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I've read alot of posts at different sites about "fixing" a slow computer. One item I've seen mentioned is deleting the prefetch folder. so.... I've "Googed" a bunch of info, but the pros and cons seem to balance out. I've never seen a "definitive" answer, so I thought I'd ask.

And again, dont mess with the prefetch. In rare instances, it may be necessary to delete individual files in there. An example would be when AOL is uninstalled it leaves some files that just take up storage space and do nothing. Of course that is what AOL does anyhow.

Cleaning the Prefetch folder is a Myth and will REDUCE performance. Unused prefetch files do nothing but take up a small amount of disk space and are automatically cleaned at 128 entries down to the 32 most used app's prefetch files by Windows. The folder is not a cache, the Prefetch (.pf) files in the folder are only REFERENCED so that Windows can optimally load itself or any of your applications to RAM when NOT before the load is initiated (you click on the icon). Nothing is preloaded at startup that is not already loading at startup. Prefetching is an optimization PROCESS. By default Prefetching is already configured optimally in Windows XP. If you want Windows and all your applications to load as fast as possible, leave it alone. Cleaning the folder manually will cripple all applications and windows load times.

Deleting the prefetch is akin to using a memory optimizer. It does nothing that Windows shouldn't be able to do on it's own. And, if there is a problem, it will help to conceal the problem - which will make it more difficult to fix.

My browser caused a flood of traffic, sio my IP address was banned. Hope to fix it soon. Will get back to posting as soon as Im able.

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